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I don’t know why she smiles. I don’t know why it scares me so much.
“What would you offer me to be free of the Valley?” she asks, watching my face. “If that was all I would offer you.”
“Anything I have….” and, because I’m not sure even that would be enough, “Everything I am.”
“I don’t need money, or a maid.” Her eyes travel down me. “But I do need someone with more sense watching over the people of my valley…. Someone to take Jamus’ place.”
“No one would accept that.”
“Not as a queen… but as queen regent.”
The only way to usurp that nonexistent throne would be to…. “I will not have his child.”
“No, of course not. That line is far too diluted.” Her scrutiny feels like flames on my skin. “But you had planned to, once.”
“Once, but no longer.” I had every intention of following the relationship through to those logical steps when it started. Marriage and kids… I’d wanted both back then.
“Would you take his place if I let you?”
“You can’t give me those powers.” As soon as I say it, I realise how foolish it is to assume I know anything she’s capable of. “Can you?”
“I’m an old god, dear. I can do whatever I want.” She smiles at me and it’s not cruel… it’s certainly not kind either. “But nothing comes for free. And you will need to bear my progeny for this to come to pass.”
A child… just not Jamus’. It sounds too easy.
“How?”
“The first to rule in the Valley was not my son, but my grandson… a century has passed since those days.” She sits in her throne, flowers sprouting in the path of her train. “Do you know why it had to be my grandson?”
“No.”
“Because those born of gods cannot walk the earth freely. But those born of both god and man….” This time the smile is unmistakably cruel. “You may have your freedom, or you may have control of the Valley.
A child is a lifetime’s sacrifice… one I was willing to make before. For a lot less in return.
“The first requires only a small sacrifice. A year’s service, entertaining my guests whoever they might be. You will remain under my protection. No one will harm you. No one will touch you. No one will be able to take you from this place.”
“And the second?”
“You can have everything you want in the Valley… with the simple sacrifice of your body. Carry my son’s child into the mortal world, and rule in his stead until he is of age to take his rightful place in the Valley.”
“Do I have any time to think about it?”
“No.”
“And if I change my mind after I meet your son? Is the other offer still on the table?”
“No.”
Freedom would be too easy to take.
But the Power she offers is infinitely more tempting.
And she knows it.
“You already knew which option I’d take before I came here, didn’t you?”
She shakes her head, the movement jarring a butterfly loose from her hair. “I did not. But I’ve observed you enough, I thought you’d be willing to make the bargain I hoped for.”
